Baseboard heater



United States Patent Primary Examiner-A. Bartis AttorneyEugene E. Geoffrey, Jr.

ABSTRACT: A baseboard heater having an outer housing, an inner heater assembly including a concave deflector having a heater therein which is rigidly secured at the center and movably supported at the ends, said deflector and housing forming a closed bottom wireway and an upper substantially dead air space to insulate the deflector from the housing and brackets carried by the deflector for supporting a narrow cover shielding the heater.

A front cover plate spaced from said heater and supported by brackets carried by said deflector, said cover plate forming upper and lower longitudinal openings between it and the deflector to form air inlet and outlet means and provide free flow of air through the heater fins.

mill

Pmmm mm 3,651,642

sum 1 OF 3 INVENTOR DAV/D M014 ATTO PATENTEU DEE29 I976 SHEET 2 OF 3 INVENTOR m {HF DAV/0 M04;

ATTOR IASEBOARD HEATER This invention relates to improvements in heating apparatus and more specifically concerns a novel and improved baseboard heater.

' The baseboard heater in accordance with the invention overcomes many of the shortcomings of, prior known baseboard heaters by affording a high rate of heat dissipation while maintaining the front and rear surfaces at relatively low temperatures. This reduces the heat loss and at the same time minimizes danger to children, pets, and furniture which may come into contact with these surfaces. Local convection currents of high temperature have also been'minimized which materially reduces the tendency to discolor wall portions above the heater. This improved heater also embodies a novel arrangement of elements which facilitates servicing and installation, avoids undesirable protrusions and minimizes noise due to expansion and contraction of various surfaces with temperature changs.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a baseboard heater affording a relatively large airflow while maintaining low surface temperatures. 7

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a novel and improved baseboard heater in which the current of incoming cool air is accelerated by the cooperation of the heating fins with the air deflector. In this way the heated air is directed farther into the room and materially reduces wall discoloration.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of an improved heater construction which reduces heat conduction to the mounting surface and greatly improves operating efficiency.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a heater having a novel and improved arrangement and organization of elements which functions to eliminate noise during thermal expansion and contraction, and facilitates installation and removal of the heat source for repair and maintenance.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of an improved heater which can be easily installed without the danger of damaging finished wall surfaces.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of an improved baseboard heater including an improved readily removable front closure means and mounting therefor allowing ready access to the heat source for cleaning and maintenance and without exposing the electrical connections.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of noveland improved baseboard heating apparatus of the above nature which is compact, attractive in appearance, and readily adaptable to a wide range of space, decors, and heating requirements.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the fin and heater construction;

FIG. 3 is a simplified electrical diagram illustrating one arrangement of a pair of heating elements and-their protective thermostats;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the heater shown in FIG. 1 with parts broken away;

FIG. 5 is a croes-sectional view of the heater shown in FIG. 4 and taken along the line 5-5 thereof;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the heater shown in FIG. 4 and taken along the line 6-6 thereof;

FIG. 7 is a ems-sectional view of the heater shown in FIG. 4 and taken along the line 77 thereof;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of three heater sections joined one to the other;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the interconnection of two heaters taken along the line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the central mounting structure for the heater element;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 12 taken along the line ll-ll thereof; v

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 11 taken along the line 12-12 thereof;

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of one movable mount for the heater element; and

FIG. 14 is a partial cross section of the movable heater mount and shows the cooperation between the heater mount and the heater element.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the numeral 10 generally denotes a baseboard heater adapted to be installed at the base of a wall 11. The baseboard heater 10 in the instant embodiment of the invention consists of three major assemblies, namely, the outer frame or housing 12, heater section 13, and cover plate 14.

The outer housing 12 consists of a flat rear vertical wall 15 extending the full length of the device and terminating in end plates 16 which are permanently secured thereto. The wall 15 contains a plurality of holes 17 for securing the heater to the supporting wall 11 of a room and a series of inwardly extending conical protrusions l8 having central openings 18 for mounting the heater section 13 thereto. The top wall 19 of housing 12 inclines slightly upwardly and the outer edge 20 is folded backwardly to provide a smooth edge portion. The bottom wall 21 extends outwardly from the rear wall 15 and terminates in an upwardly extending flange 22 to form in effect a channel 23. A narrow bracket 24 is spaced a short distance above the bottom wall 21 and is fastened to the rear wall 15 by suitable means such as welding or the like. This bracket is inclined downwardly and the ends terminate at points spaced from the end walls 16. Adjoining the ends of the bracket 24 are short brackets 24' which include portions spaced from the rear wall 15 and extending toward the end plates 16. As will be shown, these brackets are used principally to hold wiring in place.

As will become apparent, the channel 23 forms a wireway for the heater and V-shaped fasteners 26 formed of spring material are inserted between the narrow bracket 24 and the bottom channel 23, to retain the wiring and thus facilitating installation.

The heater section 13 includes a deflector 13' having a flat vertical rear wall 25, forwardly and upwardly sloping upper wall portions 25' and 27, the latter terminating in a rearwardly extending horizontal flange 28. The rear surface of the wall portion 25 carries at least one be conveniently thermostat 28' as may be seen more clearly in F IG. 5. The bottom edge of the wall 25 carries downwardly sloping wall portions 29 and 30, the latter terminating in a downwardly projecting lip 32 which cooperates with the flange 22 of the housing 12. As may be observed in FIG. 5, the wall portions 29 and 30, the strip 24 and the housing channel 23 form a closed wireway which facilitates wiring of the heater and interconnecting successive heaters placed in end-to-end relationship, and connecting accessories such as electrical outlets, thermostats, etc., carried by housings conformed with the slope of the heater and attached to the ends thereof or interpoeed between heater sections.

Referring more specifically to FIGS. 2 and 5, the deflector 13 includes a plurality of forwardly extending cover supporting brackets 34 positioned in longitudinally spaced relationship and carried by the vertical rear wall 25. Each bracket 34 is L-shaped and formed of a suitable spring material. The vertical leg 35 of each bracket 34 is secured to the rear wall 25 and the horizontal section 36 extends forwardly and terminates in a downwardly formed V-shaped edge 37 which engages the lower edge 49 of the cover plate 14.

The upper edge 50 of the cover plate 14 engages a plurality of supports 38 formed of wire and having cover engaging loops 46'. Each support includes a horizontal section 41 having downwardly formed V-shaped portions 42 and 42' at the ends thereof. Each vertical section of each support includes an upwardly and outwardly extending part 43, an upwardly and the heatenThe inner surface 44 of each junction box hasa circular opening 45" with'a heat resistant insulating grommet 46" inserted therein for receiving the heating rod element sheath 47 of the finned heater 44.

The front cover plate 14 consists of a flat plate48 with the lower portion terminating in 'an upwardly curved inner edge 49 adapted to hook under the V-shaped edge 37 of bracket 34, as shown in FIG. 5. Similarly the upper edge 50 of the cover plate 14 is turned inwardly and downwardly and is adapted to hook over loops 46 and 46'. Thus in the operative position, the closure plate 14 is firmly retained and supported on brackets 38 by the spring force supplied by spring brackets 34 acting in a downward direction. The spring brackets have sufiicient resilience to facilitate installation and removal of the source 44 includes a suitable elongated heat generating resistance unit encased in and insulated from a metallic tube or sheath 47. The resistance units are generally connected in parallel as illustrated in FIG. 3 though any desiredcircuitarrangements may be utilized.

Referring to FlG. 2A, a series of metal fins 52, preferably of rectangular construction with the sides 52 and 53 bent at right angles, form a channel. Each fin has a large central hole 57 and small holes 55 and 56 in the bent side portions. The fins are secured to the sheath 47 and are held in fixed spaced relationship by collars 58 integral parts of the fins and crimped onto the sheath to effect good heat conduction. The side por- =tions of the fins 53 and 54 serve to increase the fin area,

strengthen the thin metal fins and act in cooperation with other fins to fonn a plurality of ducts 59 to accelerate the air flow therethrough. v

Referring to FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 13, and 14, it will be seen that the heater element 44, sheath 47, and fins 52 are connected to the deflector 33 by means of a moving support 60 near each end and a fixed support bracket 61 at the center of the heater element.

The movable support 60 is made of a heavy guage wire formed in the shape of aninverted U with the transverse leg 60 having a book 63 disposed centrally thereof. The downwardly extending legs65, 65' terminate in inwardly formed ends 66 and 66'. The ends 66 and 66 are inserted into the holes 55 and 56 of fins 52 while book 63 engages an opening 67 in the bracket 68. Bracket 68 has a body portion 69 having the hole 67 formed therein and a tab 70 having a hole 71 for fastening the bracket to the wall 25 by a rivet or other suitable means.

FIGS. 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12 show the details of the fixed support bracket assembly 61 which consists of a hook 73 having a threaded shank 74;" Hook 73 engages the heater sheath 47, i

and the shank extends through hole 74' in bracket 75 and threadably engages the hole 76 in the bracket 77.

Bracket 75 has a small flat surface 79.containing an opening 74 and a pair of downwardly extending plates and 81.,The lower edges of these plates have arcuate recesses 82 and 83, which engage the sheath 47 of the heater'44. The bracket 7.7 has reversely formed end tabs 76' and .78 with the tab 76 having the threaded hole 76 therein and the tab 78' having a hole 78. In the installation of the bracket assembly 61, the hook 73 is engaged with the bottom side of the heater sheath 47. Plates 80 and 81 of the bracket 75 are inserted for use with a suitable bottom support.

through holes 17, provision having been made fora supply of current for the device which may be fed through knockouts provided atthe ends of walls 12, 16, and 21. Referring'to FIGS. 3 and 9, the wiring 86 is placed in-channel 23 and held in position by the spring clamps 26. Heaters may,be ;connected in end to end relationship by means of screws,87 and nuts 88 extendingthroughholes 89 provided in end plates 16, orother suitablemeans such as self-tapping screws or the like. A grommet 90 is placed in aligned holes 91 for feeding the wires from each heater to the adjoining heater. Connections of the heater wires 92 and 92' may be made with the aid of wire nuts 93 and 93 to the main power wires 86 and 86' and aground connection can be made to any desired portion of the housingfl he foregoing connections are made while the heater section 13;is lying on the floor in front'of the housing. When the connections arecompleted, the heater section 13 is tilted forward and the bottom lip 32 is inserted behind the flange 22. Then the entire section is moved inwardly against the cones 18 or the outer frame mounting 12 and is automatically supported by the metal strip or shelf 42. Screws 94 are fed through the holes 95 provided inpthe deflector 13' and threadablyengage holes v18' thereby securing the heater 13' to'the housing 12 and providing a sealed duct 23. The cover plate 12 may then be inserted by engaging the lip 49 with the V-shaped edge 37 of bracket 34, applying a small amount of vertical pressure to raise the plate until upper edge 50 engages the upper edges of the loops 46 and 46. v v

1n the operation of the heater, the path of the convection currents is an indicated by the arrows in FIG. 7. The air to be heated enters the heating. chamber at the bottom of the housingbelow the cover plate 14, passes upward1y.through and about the finned heating unit 44 thereby beingaccelerated and then deflected forwardly and upwardly by wall 25' of deflector 33 and emerges through the wide opening 96 between the cover plate 14 and the deflector 13. The cover plate is held at a substantial distance from the heating element by bracket 38 which maintains said coverplate at a relatively low temperature. In this way injury to individuals andfurniture that may be moved into contact with the heater is minimized. The shape of the deflector plate 13' is such that the accelerated air is directed away from the wall above the unit, thus substantially minimizing wall discoloration.

Referring again to FIG. 7, it will be noted that deflector 13 is not in intimate contact with wall 15 of the'housing but instead is spaced from the inner surface by the'cones 18. The purpose'of this mounting arrangement is to provide an air pocket 97 of relatively stagnant air which acts as an insulator and reduces the temperature and heat loss through the hous; ing 12.

.A common fault of prior heating devices has been" the generation of noise with changing temperatures ofthe various.

elements of the device. Such noise freque'ntlyarises, for in; stance, in metal to metal joints and particularly in cases invention such noise is substantially prevented.

In the case of the. heating element itself, the secure joints between the sheath 47 andthe fins 52 effectively prevent sig-.. nificant movement between these members, while the bent edges of the fins strengthen them and prevent buckling.

Moreover, the heater element is not firmly clamped on both ends but rather .is firmly clamped and supported at the center by the fixed support bracket assembly 61, described earlier,

and supported at the ends by movable support brackets 60.,

The ends of the heating element are fed through insulating grommets which provide additional support. The heating ele:

inverted' ment since it is fixed at the center and has movable end supports exhibits a movement which is one half of the movement of a conventional heater element fixed at one end. The movable support brackets assembly 61 acts as hinges and keeps the heater substantially horizontal while allowing the required freedom of expansion.

From the foregoing description and operation of the invention, it will be readily seen that the device may be made in any desired lengths, and two or more complete units of the same or different lengths may be combined in a single installation to meet any particular requirements. The junction boxes and outer housing are provided with knockouts convenient for various installations with available supply wiring and ease of interconnecting multiple units. The double-ended type of structure permits interchangeable right-hand and left-hand location of supply conductors and thermostats.

. The novel and improved heater as described above affords numerous advantages in both installation and maintenance For instance, the fixed center support not only supports the heating element but also provides a positive ground and avoids the need for additional supporting means to hold the heating element for shipping purposes. Furthermore, since the wireway is at a very low temperature, the heater can be mounted directly to a finished floor and rugs or other floor covering can directly abut the heater. In addition, heater wiring need only be provided with low-temperature insulation of the order of 60 C.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is apparent that alterations, modifications and changes may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit thereof as defined by the appended claims.

lclaim:

l. A baseboard heater comprising an outer housing having a rear wall, outwardly extending bottom, end and top walls and an upwardly extending flange along the outer edge of said bottom wall, a heater section including a concave deflector, a finned heater mounted in said deflector, and enclosures on each end of said deflector, said enclosure each having an opening receiving a respective end of said heater, an elongated narrow bracket secured to the rear wall of said housing and extending lengthwise thereof, means securing said heater section in said housing and in spaced relationship to the rear wall thereof, said deflector'engaging said elongated bracket and said flange to form a closed wireway below said deflector and substantially dead air space above said elongated bracket, a cover plate narrower than said deflector and forming upper and lower longitudinal openings and cover plate supporting means carried by said deflector to hold said cover plate in spaced relationship to said heater, said cover plate and deflector forming an air channel guiding said air through the lower opening into said heater section, through said finned heater and discharging the heated air outwardly through the upper opening between the top of the cover plate and said deflector.

2. A baseboard heater according to claim 1 wherein said heater includes a finned tube having an electrical heating element therein and electrically conductive means fixedly securing said heater at a central point to said deflector with the ends of said heater slidably engaging the openings in said end enclosures.

3. A baseboard heater according to claim 2 including at least two hinged mounts securing said heater to said deflector at points adjoining the ends of said heater.

4. A baseboard heater according to claim 2 wherein said central securing means includes a hook engaging one side of said tube, a pair of spaced interconnected plates engaging an opposing side of said tube, said hook having an outwardly extending threaded shank and means carried bysaid deflector and engaging said interconnected plates and said shank to firmly clamp said tube therebetween.

5. A baseboard heater according to claim 3 wherein the fins on said tube each have side edge flanges having a width substantially e ua l to the fin spacing, each of said side edge flanges inc uding an opening spaced from the top edge thereof, and each of said hinged mounts includes a downwardly extending bracket carried by said deflector and having an opening therein and a U-shaped support having inwardly extending pins engaging said fin openings and a hook extending upwardly therefrom and engaging the opening in the last said bracket.

6. A baseboard heater according to claim I wherein said cover plate has inwardly formed channels along the upper and lower edges thereof, said cover plate supporting means comprising a plurality of removable supports fixedly positioned relative to said deflector and engaging the upper cover plate channel and a plurality of resilient cover plate supports below said heater, said resilient supports being secured to said deflector and having downwardly formed elements on the ends thereof engaging said lower cover plate channel. 

